Fooled to Love
by Burning Underground
Summary: (Sonic Boom Universe) When Shadow learns that Knuckles has a crush on him, he uses that to find Team Sonic's weaknesses. What happens when he starts to like how Knuckles treats him? *Contains Knuxadow*
1. The Story Begins

"You foolish, hedgehog! You shall parish along with your friends!"

They were at it again.

"Sure, whatever you say, Shadow!"

The blue and black hedgehogs were fighting for no reason again. They seem to be doing this often, every week to be exact. This time, Sonic brought his team along to fight too, but they weren't really fighting much. Sonic and Shadow were too fast for them.

"Who do you think is going to win this time?" Tails asked.

"Probably Sonic." Amy said. "Shadow looks weaker than usual today."

"Shadow." Knuckles said simply.

"I don't care either way." Sticks replied, crossing her arms.

Tails shrugs. "I agree with Amy; Shadow does look weaker than usual today."

"Do you think he's okay?" Knuckles asked, concerned.

"Sonic will be fine." Amy replied. Knuckles frowned, but didn't correct her.

Sonic swiftly kicked Shadow into a pole and used a rope to tie him up. Shadow growled, furious at himself for losing to Sonic.

The blue hedgehog walked to his friends to celebrate his victory. Knuckles looked at Shadow before sneaking away from his friends to confront the struggling hedgehog.

"Shadow?"

Shadow glared at Knuckles. "What do you want? Here to rub it in?"

Knuckles shook his head. "I just wanted to see if your okay."

"I'm fine." Shadow growled, hiding his surprise.

"You don't look like you are."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"Fine..." Knuckles sighed. "I wanted to tell you something..."

"Does it look like I care?"

"Can you meet me here tonight?"

Shadow stared at Knuckles. "Excuse me?"

"Will you meet me here tonight?"

Shadow could see the desperation in the echidna's eyes. He looked away, confused at why he hasn't declined yet. He sighed and said, "Fine."

Knuckles grinned as he untied the rope. Shadow stared at him for a split second before disappearing to an unknown location. Knuckles quickly ran back to his team.

"Hey, where did Shadow go?" Sonic asked, just now noticing the absence of his rival.

"He probably used his weird powers to get out." Knuckles said.

"Or he was taken by evil alien overlords who plan to use him as a sacrifice that will end us all!" Sticks yelled out.

"Uh... yeah, I'll just go with Knuckles' idea..." Sonic said, walking back to the shack where he and Tails lived. The team went their separate ways, all going to their houses, except for Knuckles, who followed Amy to her house.

"Knuckles, why are you following me?" Amy asked when they got there.

"I need advice..." Knuckles said. "You see, I like this person, and-"

"Say no more!" Amy had a huge grin on her face. "Come inside."

Knuckles sat beside Amy on her couch, a cup of tea in his large hands. Amy gave it to him because it helps calm the nerves.

"So, let's start with who this girl is. Is she pretty? What does she like? How did you meet her?" Amy said, setting her cup of tea down.

"Uh... W-Well..." Knuckles blushed slightly.

"Aw, your shy. I'll guess then." Amy racked her brain for names. "Percy?"

Knuckles shook his head.

"Zooey?"

Another shake.

"Sticks?"

Another.

"Me?"

"It's Shadow!" Knuckles blurted out. He quickly covered his mouth.

Amy stared at Knuckles, confusion in her eyes. "You never told us that you are-"

"I didn't know I was either... Until I fell in love with Shadow... H-He's just so..." he racked his brain for a word. "perfect..."

Amy smiled. "Aw, that's so cute!"

"I told him to meet me tonight so I could confess, but I don't know how to..."

"Just tell him, and if you can't find the words, show him. Tell him to give you a chance. Prove your love, and I'm sure he'll love you back."

Knuckles nodded. Oh, how nervous he was for this night.

Shadow stood beside the pole that he was tied up to only a couple hours ago. He looked around for the red echidna, but couldn't see him. He sighed and was about to walk away until he heard a voice."

"Shadow, wait!"

He turned to see Knuckles running up to him. "Sorry to keep you waiting..."

Shadow crossed his arms. "What is it that you wanted to tell me?"

"Um... W-Well I..."

"Spit it out. I don't have all ni-"

Shadow's eyes were wide as Knuckles connected their lips. 'Who does he think he is!? Is he insane!?'

Knuckles pulled away. "Before you yell at me, just hear me out." Knuckles paused and continued. "I know you probably don't feel the same way, but I like you... a lot. Just give me a chance, please?"

Shadow was ready to decline, but then he thought it over. 'This could be a perfect way to find Sonic's weakness... Then I could finally kill both him and his friends.'

Shadow looked up at Knuckles. "One chance, but that's it."

Knuckles smiled wide and pulled Shadow into a hug. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" Shadow forced himself to hug back.

"So... meet me at Sonic's house tomorrow at noon. We could go to Meh Burger, and then we could go see Comedy Chimp. U-Unless you don't want to..."

"I guess that would be fine... I have never seen Comedy Chimp, nor have I eaten at Meh Burger."

Knuckles smiled and kissed Shadow's cheek before running off, daydreaming of what could happen the next day...


	2. A Date To Die For

Shadow walked towards Sonic's shack and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal Sonic.

"Come for another beat down?" He smirked.

"Actually, I am here for Knuckles." Shadow replied coolly.

"You're here!" A voice shouted before a clatter of things were heard. Knuckles soon came with his shoe stuck in a pot.

"Knuckles, why did you invite my enemy to my house?" Sonic asked, tapping his foot angrily.

"Don't worry, Sonic. We aren't staying." Knuckles smiled.

"Wait... are you really hanging out with him?"

"Actually, they're going on a date." A female voice was heard from the kitchen. The girl walked out to reveal Amy.

"Date!?" Sonic shouted as loud as possible.

"Yeah, a date." Shadow crossed his arms. "You have a problem with that?"

"Of course I do!" Sonic shouted. "You're the enemy! Knuckles shouldn't be with you!"

Shadow growled. "Who are you to take control of your friend's lives!?"

"It's just common sense!"

"Fight me!"

"I will!"

"Will you both stop it!" Knuckles shouted. "Can't we all just get along...? I love Shadow, Sonic. I have for a long time, but you don't need to be acting like a jerk! Just do this one thing for me and stop fighting."

Shadow glanced between Knuckles and Sonic. He didn't want to surrender because of Knuckles, but he had no choice if he wanted his plan to work. He lowered his fists as his ears went down in mock hurt. He said, almost in a whisper, "I'm sorry..."

Sonic stared at Shadow with the biggest surprised face anybody's ever seen. Knuckles smiled and hugged Shadow, who blushed slightly at the attention he was being given.

"It's okay." Knuckles smiled. "Let's go to Meh Burger."

Shadow nodded, and Knuckles and him walked out of the house, leaving a dumbstruck Sonic and a squealing Amy.

Shadow stared at his burger. "Is this even edible?"

"Of course it is!" Knuckles smiled. "It's great with some pepper." He took a glass shaker, that contained pepper, and put some on Shadow's burger.

Shadow stared at it, wondering why anyone would ever eat something like that. He looked at Knuckles, who ate his burger happily, then looked back down to his own burger. He picked it up slowly, using both of his hands.

Knuckles smiled as he looked at Shadow. The hedgehog had the most cutest face as he stared at his burger with curiosity. Knuckles looked back at the pepper, but noticed that the sign on it was a skull with two bones making an x. He might not be the smartest one on the island, but he knew what that meant. "Shadow don't!" He quickly swatted the burger out of the hedgehog's hands.

"What was that for?" Shadow tried not to yell.

"There's poison in that burger!" Knuckles said, showing him the 'pepper' shaker.

Shadow looked at Knuckles with wide eyes. That echidna just saved his life. He looked back at the burger on the ground and cringed. He looked back at Knuckles. "Thank you..."

'This date isn't going the way I planned it to...' Knuckles thought, but he still smiled at Shadow. 'He'll never want to be my boyfriend now...'

Knuckles stood up and grabbed Shadow's hand gently. "Let's go see that movie now."

Shadow nodded and was lead by Knuckles back to the beach near Sonic's house. A romantic setup was arranged there. A white screen was in front of two chairs that had comfortable pillows on them. A small table was in between them with two sodas and one bag of popcorn. A projector was setup with Tails putting in a movie. He smiled over at the two, and Amy walked towards them.

"Aw, you two look so cute!" She smiled. "How was the food?"

"Poison." Shadow said simply. Knuckles frowned.

Amy's smiled faltered a bit, but quickly returned as she lead the two to their seats. "If you two need anything we will be in Sonic's house. Enjoy!"

Amy and Tails both left the two alone. They walked into Sonic's house, but quickly ran to the window, Amy with binoculars and Tails with a machine he made to help with hearing what they say. They both wanted to know what will happen. Meanwhile, Sonic was sitting on his couch, staring at his two friends. He honestly didn't trust Shadow, but there was nothing he could do about it. Even Sticks didn't believe him. He sighed and looked back at the TV, which stopped working. 'This just isn't my day...'

Knuckles glanced at Shadow every now and then to see if he was enjoying the movie. Shadow just had the same emotionless look every time. Knuckles started to get nervous. All of what happened today could really cause Shadow to not like him. He looked down sadly. He lost his one chance. He blew it.

He sighed. 'Might as well ask him...'

"Uh... Shadow?"

Shadow looked over towards him, his ruby eyes seeming to glow.

"I, uh, know this day hasn't been the best, but would you please do me the honor of being... my boyfriend?"

Oh, how much the ebony one wanted to decline, but his plan brought him to nod and say, "Yes."

"Really!?" Knuckles smiled wide as Shadow nodded.

Meanwhile, Amy was squealing and Tails smiled. "He said yes!"

Sonic groaned. 'I have to see more of this...?'


	3. Important

**Okay, so I'd just like to tell you guys what I think the Sonic Boom characters' pasts are. Why? Well, it's important to the story. So, I'll start with Shadow...**

 **Warning: Might make you sad...**

 _Boom Shadow:_

Fifty years from this very year (2015), the government wanted a secret weapon to have in case another war broke out. The enlisted the help of Professor Gerald Robotnick, who was happy to help. He created 'the ultimate lifeform,' who his granddaughter, Maria, named Shadow. Maria was a nurse who worked at the government, and she just turned 20 when Shadow was created. She treated him as a little brother, and he brought the kid side out of her. Shadow trained hard for the government and was soon a part of the army. A war started up, and Shadow and his team were ready. They fought a hard fight, but slowly, Shadow's team started to either betray him or die. Maria always stayed there for him until...

He was shot.

Maria, being the nurse, came to save him.

But she was fatally shot in the process.

Shadow survived with his quick healing, but he was never the same after that. The war was put to an end, but Shadow never trusted another person again. He never had any friends, believing that they would make him weaker. There was only one other from Shadow's team who survived the war. He follows Shadow around for some purpose that might be revealed soon...

 _Boom Knuckles:_

An ancient race called the echidnas, who are just called 'the ancients' now, lived in a floating island in the sky called Angel Island. There, they protected the Master Emerald, which held enormous power. A young echidna named Knuckles was the next in line to be the guardian, and he was about to be granted the power, but something terrible happened.

A bunch of humans invaded the area, trying to reach the emerald. The echidnas fought hard, but the Master Emerald ended up shattering into pieces. The shattered pieces scattered all over the world, never to be found again.

All of the echidnas were wiped out and taken away by the humans. One still remained, passed out from a hard hit against a tree: Knuckles the Echidna. Angel Island started to fall into the ocean. Later, Knuckles woke up with no memory except for his name and that he was born on some place called Angel Island.

The poor, confused echidna stayed on that island and did the only thing he thought he could do: work out. Soon, the island started to gain mobian visitors who the settled down and lived there. The island was renamed, and only one town was there, but Knuckles still resides there with his newly gained friend, Sticks...

 _Boom Sonic:_

Poor, poor Sonic. He was born with speed unlike any other, and for that he was bullied. A lot. He didn't have any friends, nor did he have parents, for they died when he was young.

Soon, the bullying just got to be too much. He started cutting. Deep. He didn't just cut his arms; he also cut his legs. He used a lot of bandages, which later turned into sports tape when he stopped. He still has scars today, but it seems that his friends just thought that it was a fashion thing.

When Sonic ran away from his hometown, he ended up meeting a man shaped like an egg that was terrorizing the animals that lived there. He soon put a stop to the doctor, and this started to become a daily thing. It made Sonic's confidence swell up, and he stopped cutting. He started to get cocky, and, as he started to gain friends, he became full of himself. He soon moved to an island were Eggman lived and made even more friends...

 _Boom Tails:_

Sure, Tails was bullied, but he didn't pay any mind to it. He loved to invent, and he loved to fly. He created a biplane and it instantly became his baby. He soon meets a hedgehog named Sonic and became best friends with him. He became Sonic's sidekick, and has been with him ever since...

 _Boom Amy:_

Amy was raised in Little Planet, and she was very spoiled. She loved her planet, but she wanted to go out and explore the world. That chance comes when Eggman attacks and a blue hedgehog comes to save it. Not letting someone hurt her beautiful planet, she helped Sonic with the use of her piko piko hammer. She then became a part of Sonic's team, and traveled around with him and Tails. She soon developed a crush on Sonic, but kept it to herself...

 _Sticks:_

Sticks the Badger was a calm, humble girl who grew up in a cave on Angel Island. The echidnas didn't mind her, knowing that she was of no harm. Then, the attack came. She had never seen a human in her life, so she thought them to be aliens. Once they left, she began making things to stop another invasion.

She saw a young echidna and raised him. Of course, she didn't have an education, so she couldn't teach him. She was declared 'crazy' by the new inhabitants because of what she thought was an alien invasion...

 **Okay, that's all. I hope this doesn't confuse you... This is what I think their pasts are for Sonic Boom, and this will be used for the story. I will update the next chapter soon. :)**


	4. Mornings with a Crazy Badger

The movie was over, but Knuckles didn't want to move a single bit. Why? Well, a certain hedgehog fell asleep, his head laying on the echidna's arm. Knuckles didn't know, but Shadow hadn't slept in a whole week! The dark hedgehog needed the rest, but he knew he was going to curse himself for falling asleep in the morning.

Knuckles carefully picked up Shadow, trying hard not to wake him. He smiled at the hedgehog in his arms as he walked through the night and into the jungle, where Sticks' cave was.

He has been living with Sticks for as long as he could remember. Ever since he was young, the badger has been taking care of him, which makes him wonder how old Sticks really is. He never brought up the question, knowing that girls don't like being asked how old they are (Amy and a lady walrus taught him the hard way).

"Hey, Sticks?" Knuckles asked, knowing she was still up due to her paranoia. "Can Shadow stay here for the night?"

"As long as he doesn't try to kill me while I'm sleeping." The drowsy reply was.

Knuckles nodded and walked towards the back of the cave, where his 'room' was. A bed and a lamp were the only things he had, along with a couple rocks that he used for weight lifting. He gently set Shadow on his bed and covered him with a blanket. Then, he arranged a couple of blankets on the ground to make a comfortable enough bed before laying down on it.

"Goodnight Shadow..." he whispered before falling asleep.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Shadow woke up, his red eyes darting around. This wasn't his house. What happened last night?

 _'I fell asleep... while watching that movie with the echidna...'_ he remembered, mentally cursing himself for letting his guard down enough to fall asleep. He found the echidna sleeping on the ground. _'At least he is respectful of my space...'_

He looked around again, wondering why the echidna lived in a cave. Something moving caught his attention, and he turned to look there. Sonic's crazy badger friend was standing right there, making him jump slightly.

They both just stared at each other, neither bothering to speak. Sticks set her eyes in a glare, getting into the hedgehog's face. "If you hurt him, I'll come and personally sacrifice you to the aliens."

Shadow was going to make a remark, but he was too creped out to come up with one. The way the badger's crazed eyes bore into him made him feel uncomfortable. Slowly he nodded. "Understood."

Sticks turned around and walked towards the front of the cave, leaving Shadow in a state of unease. Luckily, Knuckles started to wake up, letting Shadow get distracted.

Knuckles rubbed his eyes sleepily. "Did I fall of the bed again...?" He looked at Shadow and instantly brightened up. "Oh, hey Shadow."

Shadow nodded his hello. He then looked back at Sticks, who was preparing breakfast. "You are aware that your badger friend is here?"

"Oh, yeah." Knuckles smiled. "I live with her."

"Excuse me if I misunderstand, but don't two people live together if they are in a relationship?"

"What? No! It's not like that, Shadow!" Knuckles said hurriedly. "She took me in when I was young."

Shadow nodded slowly. He didn't believe Knuckles to be a liar, so he just dropped the subject and stretched some.

Knuckles stared at Shadow as he stretched out his tired muscles. Shadow looked perfect in the morning: his chest fur in a slight mess while his quills remained in perfect condition. His eyes were slightly drooped, but still alert, and the way he stretched showed off the muscles he had under that little body of his. Knuckles blushed and looked away from the ebony hedgehog.

Shadow stepped out of bed and found his rocket skates and gloves set down neatly on the floor. He put them on. "I guess I should be leaving now."

"No! I mean... please stay for some breakfast. It's the most important meal of the day." Knuckles smiled nervously.

 _'I don't need food to survive...'_ Shadow thought but nodded. "Okay."

 **_Knuxadow_**

"What kind of meat is this?" Shadow asked, poking at his food that looked like bacon, but there was no feral pigs on the island.

"Why should I tell you?" Sticks glared at him. "All you'll do is judge me. They all do."

"Nobody judges you, Sticks." Knuckles said.

"Yes they do." Sticks protested. "I can see it in their eyes. They all think I'm crazy, but I know what I saw!"

Shadow would never admit it, but there was only two things he was scared of: experimentation and Sticks. Shadow just stared at his food, not daring to look up into the badger's blue eyes. He stood up. "I better get going..."

"Wait!" Shadow looked back at Knuckles. "I thought that we could spend the day together. It'll be fun, right?"

Shadow sighed and walked back to the echidna, preparing half of a lie in his head. "I wish I could, but I have a meeting with an old friend. I will come back afterwards."

"Promise?" Knuckles asked, and Shadow nodded. "Okay..." he quickly kissed the hedgehog's cheek as a farewell.

Shadow blushed a deep red, not being use to attention like that. He looked away as he chaos controlled out.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Your late." A voice was heard from the shadows.

"I had to deal with some things..." Shadow said calmly, sitting on one of his chairs.

"You are taking too long to kill Sonic's team, Shadow."

"It's not going to be fast. I need everyone on that team to trust me before I can find their weaknesses."

The deep voice sighed. "Just make sure it doesn't take too long."

"I don't want to spend that much time with them."

"Good. Because if you do take too long... well, I'll just have to get in contact with the government's scientists, now won't I?"

"You wouldn't dare." Shadow said, his eyes wide.

"Let's not test that theory out, now leave me."

"This is my house."

"I said, leave me!"

Shadow rolled his eyes and chaos controlled away.


	5. A Small Game

The black hedgehog walked along the beach and spotted his 'boyfriend' playing volleyball with his friends. It was two on two: Knuckles and Sonic vs Sticks and Amy. Tails was working on his plane.

Shadow watched the game silently until Knuckles looked over and saw him. "Shadow! You came back."

The hedgehog simply nodded. "I said I would, did I not?"

"Yeah..." Knuckles laughed nervously. "I just didn't think you actually would..."

"I promised you that I would. I always keep my promises, whether I like it or not." Shadow stated, arms crossed.

Knuckles smiled brightly. "Okay then. Would you like to play with us?"

Shadow looked at them all before looking away, almost embarrassed. "I've never played any kind of sports before..."

"Well that's surprising." Sonic rolled his eyes.

Shadow growled and glared at Sonic. "I've never had a chance to play any before. Not everyone has the luxury of a normal childhood."

"How was your childhood 'not normal'?" Sonic asked.

Shadow, realizing his mistake, quickly looked away, crossing his arms. Knuckles, seeming to sense his partner's distress, quickly stepped in. "I can show you how to play."

Shadow nodded slowly, and Knuckles grabbed his hand, surprisingly gentle, and lead him to the court. Sticks was now sitting on one of the beach chairs, and Sonic was on the other side with Amy.

Knuckles showed him how to serve and how to execute all of the different passes. Then, the game was on. Shadow, still a bit confused, let Knuckles serve first. He saw Amy hit it, and and he quickly tried to hit it, slipping and falling flat on his face.

Sonic burst out laughing at his rival. Knuckles gasped and quickly helped him up. "Are you okay!?"

"I'm fine." Shadow tried not to growl it out. He felt utterly humiliated, and it didn't help that Knuckles was worrying over him. His 'boyfriend' was dusting off the sand while checking for any wound that could have occurred. "Really, I'm fine. Let's just get back to the game."

"Alright..." Knuckles sighed and hugged Shadow close. "I just don't want you hurt..."

Shadow blushed at the attention, but his mind wasn't on that _. 'Nobody's ever truly worried about me before... except for...'_ he mentally shook his head to rid the thought. He then realized what he was doing: he seemed to have nuzzled his face into Knuckles' chest. Knuckles didn't seem to mind, actually accepting it with a blush and a smile.

"Cut the sappy fluff, and let's get on with the game." Sonic said, crossing his arms.

Amy glared at him. "Fluff is cute. I think it's adorable!"

Sonic just rolled his eyes. Shadow glared at him, a blush still very clear on his muzzle. "Alright then. Let's play."

They started the game again, and Shadow seemed to be doing better. He actually got a few passes. The ball was on Sonic and Amy's side and Sonic was right up near the net. He spiked the ball, effectively hitting Shadow's face.

The black hedgehog fell back, not expecting the hit. His hand covered his nose, where blood was leaking out and staining his glove.

"Shadow!" Knuckles ran over to him and picked him up, bringing him towards a beach chair. The hedgehog was still holding his nose, his glove red.

"Tilt your head back, Shadow. Knuckles, go get some tissues." Amy ordered, getting serious. Knuckles was reluctant to leave Shadow, but he did as he was told.

He came back quickly with tissues. Amy grabbed one and gently wiped around his nose to get rid of the blood. Knuckles stood beside him, holding his other hand. Shadow flinched slightly, but otherwise didn't react to all of the craziness about him _. 'It's just a bloody nose... nothing's broken, but everybody's worrying... Except for Sonic.'_

Shadow glanced over at his blue furred rival, who looked quite pleased with himself. Amy noticed this and started scolding him. Knuckles still stood beside him, his amethyst eyes filled with worry. He felt a gentle hand pet his head, and he closed his eyes at the feeling, letting out a deep purr. ' _Why does this feel good...? I've been pet like this before, but it's never felt this good... Could it be the echidna?'_

The confused hedgehog opened his eyes to see Knuckles looking at him with a smile. "Your purr is very cute..." the echidna said, blushing. Shadow blushed more and looked away, still purring at his 'boyfriend's' touch. _'Why won't my body listen to me!? Stop purring!'_

He still couldn't resist the feeling of affection that the petting gave. When Knuckles changed from petting to scratching behind his ear, he couldn't even control his actions as he leaned towards Knuckles' hand, purring louder. His eyes closed in comfort as he heard Amy finish scolding Sonic, stomping away.

Sonic looked over to see Knuckles scratching behind Shadow's ear. Shadow was actually letting Knuckles do this!? He feels that something is going on; he doesn't trust Shadow for a second. He's going to find out, one way or another...


	6. A Girl Named Maria

Shadow laid on a ragged couch, Knuckles' arms wrapped around him. The echidna was asleep, but his grip was firm on the hedgehog. Shadow looked around Knuckles' and Sticks' cave. It was simple with some random stuff that he assumed belonged to Sticks. A small TV sat in front of the couch where they now lay. He wanted to leave badly, but he couldn't say no to the echidna when he asked for Shadow to stay after the volleyball incident.

Knuckles let out a small snore and pulled the hedgehog closer to him. Shadow looked up at him and couldn't help but let out the smallest of smiles. Knuckles was very peaceful, his tough features looking soft in this state. His grip was gentle but firm, determined to keep the hedgehog as close as possible.

Shadow cursed himself for smiling at the pathetic sight. Smiling is something Shadow holds close to him, not something he can hand out to anyone. The fact that this echidna could make him smile was sickening to him. The only person to make him smile was...

'No.' his mind interrupted. 'Don't you dare think of her...'

Shadow sighed as he brought her up again to his mind. Oh, how precious she was to him. She was the light in his life. Nobody else made him happier than her...

He witnessed her death though... It played in his nightmares... He could've saved the young nurse from harm if he had just reacted fast enough with his injured shoulder...

The thought of her death made him snuggle closer to Knuckles without even knowing, and Knuckles unconsciously pulling him closer. The ebony hedgehog buried his face into the sleeping one's chest, trying to hide the tears threatening to flow out. He uttered a simple name. "Maria..."

Knuckles was actually awake and thoroughly enjoying holding Shadow close. He never thought in a million years that he could hold his crush like this.

But, when Shadow muttered that simple name, the echidna started wondering...

'Who is this Maria girl?'

"Maria? Who's Maria?" Knuckles asked aloud, making Shadow jump, still in Knuckles' arms.

"No one." Shadow said coldly, trying to push away from Knuckles, but he wouldn't let go.

"Shadow...? Are you cheating on me with this Maria person?"

"No!" Shadow growled. "How dare you say that!?"

Knuckles eyes widened. "Shadow, calm down..."

"Don't ever say that about Maria!"

"I don't even know who she is!"

Shadow's eyes widened before he looked away. "I'm sorry... I just... Don't like talking about her..."

Knuckles frowned before pulling him close. "It's alright... Who is she anyway...?"

Shadow sighed. He had never told anyone about Maria, and he definitely didn't want to tell that echidna.

"She's no one..." Shadow sighed, looking away.

Now, Knuckles may be considered the dumbest on the island, but he knew that Shadow was lying. It was obvious. Knuckles didn't know if he was trying to hide some girl that he's cheating on him with, or if she was someone really important to him, and it hurt to talk about her. He wanted to be sure, so he gently gripped Shadow's chin and made him face him.

"Shadow... Please tell me..." Knuckles said, laying a gentle kiss on Shadow's cheek and looking at him with begging eyes.

Shadow didn't know what to do. Would Knuckles leave him if he didn't say anything, ruining his plans? He didn't want to take that risk, but this topic wasn't the best with him...

Tears ran down the hedgehog's face as he stared into Knuckles' amethyst eyes. Why was he crying in front of this inferior being? Why hasn't he just left to find another way to destroy Sonic and his friends?

Still staring into the echidna's eyes, he realized something. There was something in Knuckles' eyes that made him want to stay. Something that made him want to tell this echidna everything. It was a look of trust. A look of love. They reminded him of Maria's crystal blue eyes that held so much love for everyone.

Shadow almost broke out into more tears, but stopped himself. He took a deep breath and said, "Maria... was my best friend a long time ago... W-We were in a war together... b-but she never made it out..."

Knuckles quickly pulled the hedgehog close, rubbing his back gently. "I'm sorry, Shadow... I-I didn't know..."

"I-It's fine... Just please don't let me go..." Shadow sobbed into Knuckles' chest, not considering how weak he looked at that moment. He just allowed the echidna's arms to pull him closer and rub his back gently, mumbling sweet nothings into his ear.

For the first time in 50 years, Shadow felt truly loved...


	7. Bonding Time

Shadow cried himself to sleep, and it made Knuckles regret bringing up Maria in the first place. The hedgehog seemed so sad just as the mention of her name...

Knuckles held the hedgehog close, not daring to let him go. He felt utterly stupid for making Shadow cry.

The echidna sighed sadly as he laid back, the hedgehog still in his arms. Shadow just stayed in his peaceful state, but one could still see the tear streaks on his cheeks. Knuckles frowned and held Shadow closer.

"Hey Knuckles!? You here!?" A voice shouted, making Knuckles jump. Sonic walked in, along with Tails, as Knuckles gently rocked the now waking hedgehog back to sleep. Shadow slowly calmed down and snuggled into Knuckles' chest, fast asleep.

Knuckles looked at his two friends and whispered. "Please be quiet. I don't want to wake him."

Sonic just rolled his eyes, but Tails smiled and nodded, whispering, "Sorry..."

Knuckles nodded and whispered, "It's fine. What are you two doing here?"

"We wanted to see if you were still coming to the camping trip tomorrow." Sonic said, not caring for how loud his voice is.

Knuckles sent a small glare towards Sonic before looking at Shadow and nodding. "I should be able to go. I'll see you two then..."

They both nodded and left. Shadow snuggled closer to the echidna, causing him to smile. He held the hedgehog closer and laid down, eventually falling asleep.

_Knuxadow_

Shadow's eyes opened slowly, and he looked around before meeting Knuckles' tired eyes.

"Hey there, sleepyhead." Knuckles smiled before he sneezed. Then, that sneeze lead into a coughing fit.

Shadow's eyes widened slightly before he rubbed Knuckles' back. The echidna stopped and looked at Shadow.

Shadow gently laid his hand against the echidna's forehead. "You're burning up..."

"I'll be fine."

"You obviously aren't."

Knuckles just smiled gently and cupped his hand to Shadow's cheek. "It's just a small cold..."

"Hey Knuckles!" A voice came from the entrance of the cave. Sonic. "You ready for our camping trip!?"

Sonic and Tails walked in to see Knuckles and Shadow on the couch, Knuckles looking considerably paler than usual. Shadow's ears went back from the sudden guests.

"I'm, uh, kinda sick..." Knuckles said before coughing again. He looked at Shadow and an idea came up in his head. "But Shadow could go with you!"

"What!?" Both Shadow and Sonic shouted.

"Yeah!" Knuckles smiled weakly. "This could give you two time to bond!" He then started coughing again.

Shadow started to rub his back comfortingly, but his mind was frozen. "A-Are you sure you wouldn't rather me stay with you...?"

The echidna smiled softly. "I'll be fine. Sticks can take care of me."

"You can't be serious, Knuckles." Sonic just stood there, sort of dumbfounded. He couldn't believe the turn of events that have happened. "I mean, if Shadow and I went on a camping trip, one of us wouldn't make it out alive."

"Tails will be there to stop that from happening, right Tails?" The young fox was caught a bit off guard by the echidna's statement, but nodded. Knuckles smiled and continued, "This will be a great chance for you two to really get to know each other."

"I know that he's bad. That's good enough for me." Sonic crossed his arms stubbornly.

"And I know he's annoying; nothing else really exists when it comes to him." Shadow did the same as Sonic.

Knuckles chuckled lightly at their arguments before coughing again. "I think you two will have more in common than you think. Besides, I'd like to have my best friend and my boyfriend hang out. Please?"

Shadow sighed. _'The things I do for wanting to destroy my enemies..._ ' "Fine."

"What!?" Now Sonic looked at his rival with disbelief. "You've got to be kidding me..."

Shadow just shrugged. "I'm doing this for Knuckles..."

Sonic glanced at Knuckles, who had a happy smile. He gave an exasperated sigh before saying, "Fine... Shadow can come..."

_Knuxadow_

"I can't believe I agreed to this..." Sonic mumbled as he, Tails, and Shadow made their way through the woods.

 _'You aren't the only one...'_ Shadow thought as he walked behind the two, searching the area with vigilant eyes just in case a threat popped up.

Tails was in an uncomfortable position, being with the two, who literally would fight over a penny on the ground, on a camping trip. The thoughts of what could happen made him more eager to go home than anything. Sonic and Shadow were two powerful hedgehogs that the young fox would never be able to stop. He suddenly regretted promising Knuckles that he'd keep them from fighting...

The three made their way to a small clearance in the forest, the sun shining down brightly on it. Sonic and Tails unpacked their camping gear as Shadow looked around. There wasn't much to see, but he could hear a river approximately a half of a mile away. He noticed a birds nest in a nearby tree and climbed it, sitting upon the branch that held the nest. A red bird sat in the nest, seemingly alone, but Shadow could notice the three eggs snuggled in there.

Sonic looked at the other hedgehog in curiosity. What was Shadow doing? He watched as Shadow held up a finger to the bird. The bird looked at it with curiosity before jumping on the the finger. Shadow brought his finger with the bird on it close to his face, gently petting it with his other finger. Sonic stared in shock, never having seen this side to Shadow. Shadow seemed to have just befriended that bird in a few seconds! Was Knuckles actually right about Shadow...?

No, Sonic dismissively looked away. He knew Shadow way longer than Knuckles, and Shadow was always that same old, mean hedgehog. There could be no good in him. But as Sonic looked back at his red striped enemy, he wondered how bad Shadow really was. He never did anything life threatening to the world; he just simply didn't like Sonic.

Was he really wrong about his thoughts on Shadow?

_Knuxadow_

The stars shown bright, helping the moon illuminate the world in the endless sea of black. A small fire was blazing in the middle of the three. Tails and Sonic were sitting on their sleeping bags, eating s'mores while Shadow sat on the ground, staring into the flames with an expressionless emotion. The three sat in a slightly uncomfortable silence, the crackling of the fire and crickets the only noise.

Tails shifted uncomfortably. He normally enjoyed the silence, but this was too much. He tried to start up a friendly conversation. "Don't you want any s'mores, Shadow?"

The hedgehog in question seemed to freeze in place before grunting a no. Tails' namesakes twisted in a knot as the silence started up again. What was he going to do?"

"Well, uh, I'm going to sleep, so you two don't fight..." He quickly stated before getting in his sleeping bag and closing his eyes. The only problem was that he wasn't actually tired. He pretended to sleep anyway, hoping the two would put the fire out and get some rest their selves.

Sadly, that did not happen. Actually, the silence got even more uncomfortable. Shadow's eyes never left the flames in front of him, and Sonic just kept staring down. Eventually, Tails actually did fall asleep, causing Shadow's ears to flick as he heard Tails' quiet snores.

Sonic seemed to notice too because he finally looked at Shadow. "We need to talk."

"I'm not breaking Knuckles' heart just so you could balance your brain out."

"Not about that! About... Ourselves..."

Shadow now regarded the hedgehog with curiosity. "What do you mean by that?"

"I hardly know anything about you Shadow... Maybe Knuckles was right... Maybe we should get to know each other..."

"There's nothing you need to know about me."

"Obviously there is! You act so different around him, and that means your jerkiness is really just some kind of cover up."

"It's none of your business."

"Shadow, I'm trying this for Knuckles! Shouldn't you try that too!?"

A silence filled the air as Shadow looked at Sonic with burning eyes full of hurt. Finally, he mumbled, "You wouldn't understand what I've been through..."

"Try me."

Shadow sighed. "I was created long ago by a scientist named Gerald Robotnic. He is actually Dr. Eggman's grandfather, as much as I hate to acknowledge it. I was named by Gerald's granddaughter, and she quickly became my best friend... I trained for years to protect both her and the professor, but I failed... I saw her get killed in front of my eyes..." Shadow had to stop there, not wanting to cry in front of his enemy.

Sonic was a bit shocked to say the least. He didn't expect Shadow to say his deepest secret first. He could see tears gathering up in Shadow's red eyes. It was such a strange sight that he had to look away. Then, he carefully took off the sports tape on his left arm, showing it to Shadow.

It was hard to see, but in the light of the fire, Shadow could see lines running down his arm. "Are those...?"

"Cutting scars? Yeah... I use to be bullied for my speed... Didn't really know any better back then... I thought the same as everyone else: that I was a freak... It's, uh, kind of thanks to Eggman that I'm not dead right now..."

Silence filled the air, but it was much more comfortable. Sonic wrapped his arm back up.

"Thank you for showing me..." Shadow said, looking down. "It must've been hard for you..."

"Not as hard as it must've been for you. I couldn't imagine what I would do if I saw my friends die." Sonic replied. "Heh, I guess we both have a past we want to forget..."

Shadow simply nodded as Sonic went on. "You know, you aren't as bad as I thought you were..."

"Same for you..."

Sonic smiled. "Well, I'll see you in the morning... Oh, and Shadow?"

"Hm?"

"Be good to Knuckles, okay?"

"Of course."

Sonic went to sleep soon after that, but Shadow stayed up for a bit. He realized that he had just found out Sonic's weakness, but...

Is it really worth it?


	8. Ancient Ruins

The sound of pots banging together awoke Shadow, making him quickly stand up straight, in a soldier's salute. In front of him was Sonic, who stopped banging pots together. Tails was lazily rubbing his eyes beside him. Shadow felt his cheeks heat up a bit, knowing that he accidentally slipped into his old ways.

"You okay there, Shads?" Sonic asked.

Shadow lowered his hand and looked away. "Yeah... I'm fine... Wait... Shads?"

"Uh, yeah. I thought I could give you a nickname... Since we're friends and all..."

Shadow held back a flinch at the word friend before awkwardly replying, "Uh, yeah... That's fine I guess..."

Tails looked back and forth between the two awkward hedgehogs before asking, "Hey, Sonic? What do you have planned for today?"

Sonic smiled to his friend. "Well, we are going to explore the one part of the forest that we've never been to."

Tails's eyes lit up at the idea of exploring a new area of the island. Shadow looked at him questionably.

"There's a part of this island you haven't explored?"

"Yeah, we never got around to it. But now it's the perfect time." Sonic smiled before packing up their stuff and walking north, Shadow and Tails following him.

They followed him to the edge of a clearing. Sonic smiled like a fangirl at hot topic before running in, the two others following, Shadow much faster than Tails.

Shadow glanced around, the canopy covering most of the area in shade. The further they went, the more piles of burnt stone they came across. Shadow wondered if these use to be the homes of people who lived before the villagers now.

Finally, they stopped at a large temple, all in ruins. It still seemed very much in tact though, the old stone covered in moss.

"What is this place?" Tails looked amazed at the sight, eyes filling with interest.

"It seems like some sort of old temple..." Shadow said as he walked towards it. "This must've been here for hundreds of years..."

Ignoring anything else they had to say, Sonic made his way up the large, unnecessary amount of stairs. Shadow and Tails looked at each other before following him up. At the top was a large clearing with something in the center that seems to be able to hold something.

"Wow!" Tails looked in amazement at the area. The two hedgehogs beside him looked equally interested. "Who could've built these? They aren't in the history books of the island..."

"So they must've been built before the island was founded." Sonic nodded. "But that would mean that there was some kind of ancient civilization beforehand."

Shadow walked around the small temple, finding a chest. "What's this...?"

The other two looked at him as he opened the chest, dust flying everywhere. After he finished coughing, he looked at the few things in there. The first was a scroll that had strange writing that he couldn't make out. Which was strange because he was programmed to know every existing language in the world.

"Maybe I could take it back to my workshop and analyze it." Tails suggested as the scroll was handed to him.

The second object in the chest was a small, green emerald. It glowed brighter when Shadow held it, and he felt a rush of energy and power go through his body. "What the...?"

The three stared in shock at the glowing bright emerald. Shadow set it back down; it still glowed, but nowhere near as bright. Shadow's gaze lingered on the emerald, but Sonic impatiently urged him on. "Is there anything else in there?"

Shadow looked back at the chest, picking up a dirty picture that he couldn't make out. "This is the last thing..."

"We should take this back to the shack." Tails said and the others nodded.

Because of this, they decided to end their camping trip early and make their way back. It wasn't a long journey, all of them being determined to find out what all of this stuff means. When they made it to the shack, they saw Amy, Sticks, and Knuckles just chilling in beach chairs. Knuckles was the first to notice them.

"Hey, you're back!" He seemed happy as he ran up to the three. "Man, did the weekend pass already?"

"No, we came back early." Shadow stated. "Are you better?"

Knuckles smiled and nodded, picking up Shadow in a hug. "It went away this morning."

Shadow felt himself freeze up, his legs dangling in the air. He didn't let his mind wonder off too much though, hugging Knuckles back and secretly enjoying the strange sense of security he felt in the echidna's arms. "That's good."

"Alright, hug time's over; we have something to investigate." Sonic said, though he seemed a bit less annoyed than usual.

Shadow felt his face heat up as Knuckles set him down. "Right."

"Investigate? What happened during the camping trip?" Amy tilted her head as she got up.

"We found this ancient temple with this chest of weird stuff." Tails said, pulling out two of the three things they found. "We're trying to find out what civilization this was from."

Shadow pulled out the emerald, it shining bright again. "I've been thinking on our way back about what this is, and I've came inconclusive, but I think I know what it contains."

"Woah! That's one shiny rock!" Knuckles smiled in his usual Knuckles way as Tails looked at the hedgehog with interest.

"What do you mean?"

Shadow looked down to the gem in his hand before explaining. "It contains the energy of Chaos. That's why I feel so powerful holding it; I was created with this same energy. That's why it's reacting to me."

"Wait, you were created with this stuff?" Sonic glanced at the emerald before looking back at the hedgehog.

Shadow froze, realizing what he said. Sighing, he looked away, eyes downcast. "Yes. I was made to be a powerful weapon to the military; chaos is the strongest energy in life."

The team looked at the black and red hedgehog with some concern and much confusion. Knuckles seemed the most, though, laying a gentle hand on Shadow's shoulder. Shadow looked up to him, recovering from the moment. "I wonder why the emerald was there, though. Could the ancient civilization had studied Chaos?"

Tails quickly jumped at the opportunity, unrolling the ancient scroll. "I think it will all be revealed with this writing."

Knuckles tilted his head as he looked at the writing. "For as long as any of our tribe can remember, we have guarded the master emerald of Chaos..." He looked to the others. "It seems pretty straightforward to me."

"You can read this!?" Sonic, Tails, Shadow, and Amy looked at Knuckles with shock.

Seeing the confused looks on their faces, Knuckles smiled proudly. "Yes, yes I can."

Everyone knew that Knuckles couldn't read normally, so of course this was quite a surprise. Tails looked at the writing again. "How though? This language must've been dead for thousands of years!"

"Of course he knows the language." Sticks said, crossing her arms. Everybody looked at her, expecting something crazy, but she simply said, "Go on, Knuckles."

Knuckles looked confused before nodding and looking back to the paper. "We stay in hiding on Angel Island, our tribe of echidnas being unknown to the humans who would use the power we guard for evil. I feel that it will stay that way forever." He paused, looking wide eyed at the paper. "That's where I'm from!"

The group looked to Sticks again, much confusion filling their eyes. Sticks kept her arms crossed. "I never wanted to tell you this Knuckles, but I guess I have no choice now..."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles felt anticipation build up within him.

Sticks looked away, not wanting to look at Knuckles. Nobody has ever seen her this sane. "Long ago, this island floated high above the ground because of an emerald just like what Shadow is holding, but bigger. The island was called Angel Island, and it was just inhabited by an old echidnain tribe and me. The echidnas were nice and gentle people who never meant any harm to anyone. Heck, I was invited to large feasts all of the time!"

"I have a hard time believing that an island floated." Tails said.

Shadow looked down to the emerald in his hand. "With the power of Chaos, anything could happen."

"Exactly!" Sticks nodded before continuing. "Anyways, a ceremony was about to start one day. They were holding it because a young echidna was about to become the new guardian. It was an exciting moment for everyone on the island, and I could tell that everybody was having fun. I was so stupid back then... If I had known that something was going to happen, then I could've stopped those aliens..."

"What do you mean, Sticks?" Knuckles was wide eyed, wanting to take in every detail of the story. "What happened?"

"They showed up and... and killed the entire tribe..." Sticks sighed. "I couldn't do anything to stop them. The Master Emerald shattered, and the island came falling down, landing in the ocean. When I came to, everyone was gone. The entire island was deserted, except... the little echidna that was suppose to be guardian... That little echidna was you, Knuckles. I tried to raise you the best I could. You didn't seem to remember anything of the attack, or the life you had before."

"So Bygone Island is actually Angel Island?" Tails looked down to the dirty picture he had in his hand.

"Does that explain why Knuckles is the only echidna that I've ever seen anywhere?" Sonic wondered.

"And that's why Knuckles can read the ancient text!" Amy concluded.

Knuckles was silent, mind stirring more than it has in years. He had a life before Sticks raised him? His family was all killed, and he didn't even remember any of it? Why wouldn't he remember it?

Shadow looked at Knuckles, not wanting to say anything. He knew that look on Knuckles's face well. It was the look of many thought swarming inside, too complicated to sort out. He looked back down, the look making him feel weird. He felt like he wanted to comfort the echidna, but that was bad, right? He wasn't suppose to actually feel anything about Knuckles, but he was always so nice and caring towards the hedgehog. These feelings aren't right; this mission won't work with these feelings getting in the way. He's suppose to kill this team, and that includes the echidna.

He felt a sharp pain in his heart after thinking that, further proving that he needed to get over these things. He can't love the one he has to defeat. Maybe he should distance himself more to avoid falling for him. Would that work?

No. _'I can't deny this, but...'_ Shadow glanced back to Knuckles. _'I was told to eliminate him. I can't act upon these feelings; I should just shut them out until the deal is done.'_

Shadow sighed, planning on leaving, but when he turned to Knuckles to say goodbye, an overwhelming guilt for what he was doing took over him. Knuckles looked at him, amethyst eyes filled with thoughts, and Shadow didn't feel as if he should leave him in this state.

So, instead of saying a brief goodbye, he hugged him tightly, not planning on letting go.


	9. An Old Friend

Naturally, everyone was surprised. Shadow buried his face in Knuckles's chest, ignoring the other's shocked gasps. Knuckles, who was shocked for a second, quickly wrapped his arms around the hedgehog tightly. Shadow felt comfort in those strong arms and he felt himself nuzzle the echidna comfortingly, wondering why he felt so loving and caring all of the sudden.

Sonic, still not being use to it, looked to the side with a deep sigh, but otherwise said nothing. As much as he believed he could trust Shadow, he still felt that there was something up. The others, none the wiser to Shadow's inner turmoil of feelings, watched as the two shared their hug.

Later on, Shadow found himself sandwiched in between Knuckles and Sonic, watching them play a pointless video game, but enjoying the utterly horrible trash talk the two were shouting as they played.

"I'll screwdriver you to the ground!" Sonic shouted as he spammed a button.

"Oh yeah, well I'll, uh," Knuckles stopped what he was doing for a moment, gathering his thoughts before continuing. "I'll hammer you down!"

In truth, playing "Tool Smashers" was an obvious open for tool based puns and what not, but the game lacked character over everything else. It was bland, and while there was a character choice, there wasn't anything special with them. At least, that's what Knuckles said.

Anyways, Shadow often found himself holding back groans or giggles because of the horrible, horrible puns. Knuckles seemed to try the hardest to get him to laugh, and when he finally succeeded, he was proud of himself. He was also proud of the two hedgehogs for seemingly putting their rivalry behind them.

And that was when a knock at the doorway (ya know, the place where the door SHOULD be) interrupted their good hearted moment. The three looked towards the noise, and Shadow's heart almost stopped.

"I'm looking for Shadow." A dark voice said as reptilian green eyes were set in a glare.

"What do you want with him?" Knuckles asked, being Shadow, who had suddenly stopped doing anything, close to him.

Sonic was more concerned with other things, though. "Dude, how can you talk without a mouth!?"

The newcomer locked eyes with the black and red hedgehog, who let put a wary stutter. "M-Mephiles..."

"You haven't been home all day. I thought you were being held hostage." The look alike crossed his arms.

"I'm sorry, I've been busy." Shadow said, regaining his composure.

"Yes, I can see that." The one named Mephiles glared at the echidna holding Shadow tightly in his arms.

"Shadow, who is that?" Knuckles asked. "And why is he glaring at me?"

"That's Mephiles..." Shadow sighed. "He is an old friend of mine..."

"He looks a lot like you..." Sonic mumbled.

Shadow sighed before getting out of Knuckles's arms and walking to the other. Mephiles gripped onto his arm instantly. "Say farewell because we are leaving."

"I'm not a child, and you aren't my mom." Shadow mumbled, but said goodbye to the two, who were more confused than anything.

When Knuckles saw the two leaving, he had to stop them. "Wait!"

Shadow turned around and was immediately wrapped up in the other's arms before feeling a gentle kiss on his forehead. He looked up to Knuckles, face tinted red as Knuckles said, "Good night."

"Good night to you as well." Shadow nodded awkwardly. He then paused, as if he wanted to do something before glancing at Mephiles and reaching up to peck the echidna's cheek. He then walked out, leaving his blushing 'boyfriend.' Mephiles followed behind, seemingly annoyed.

 **[Knuxadow]**

"You're actually falling in love with him, aren't you?" Mephiles growled out to the other as they walked into a small shack on the other side of the beach.

Shadow crossed his arms, not saying anything.

"You are." He spat. "I thought you'd never betray me, Shadow."

"I'm not." Shadow said. "I'm not falling in love with him, and I'd never betray you."

Mephiles scoffed, looking away. "Maybe I should give the government a call..."

Shadow tensed up, shaking slightly. "No! I'm not betraying you! We're friends, right?"

"Yes, we are." The other said simply. Shadow had bad abandonment issues, and he knew that. "We've been friends since the war. I was the one to stick by you, Shadow. I was the one who never betrayed you. I saved your life when you stupidly stayed with Maria instead of fighting. I was created to be your friend, Shadow, so you wouldn't betray me, would you? You wouldn't go with the enemy, would you?"

"No, never! I swear it was just for the act!" Shadow said quickly. "Please don't be mad..."

"I'm not mad." Mephiles sighed. Shadow had REALLY bad separation issues after the war. It was a bad time: he lost all of his team, saw his best friend die right in front of him, and was going to be put in suspended animation, if it hadn't been for Mephiles.

He turned away, walking towards his room. "I'll be in my room. Call me if you need anything."

Shadow sighed as he sat on their couch, his thoughts battling each other. He couldn't actually love Knuckles, could he?

No, he'd never betray his friend. He was the only one that stayed, after all...

The hedgehog sighed as his thoughts went back to Knuckles, his face heating up as he thought about how protective the other was when Mephiles randomly appeared. He always seemed ready to protect him, and that's what bothered the hedgehog. How could his friend's enemy be so nice?

He remembered when he first met Sonic. Mephiles seemed okay with him being friends with the other, until they moved to Bygone Island. He didn't know what happened, but something clicked in the other. Mephiles suddenly swore that Sonic and his growing team had to be stopped, and Shadow trusted him so much that he followed along, being the one to go through with his friend's schemes. He was always told that they were the enemy after that, and he became Sonic's rival. Sonic went along with it, as if he knew all along that they were to be enemies. Shadow always wondered what the team did wrong, but he never questioned it.

Now, he was starting to.

Spending time with them, bonding with them, it made him wonder why they were suppose to be the enemy. Especially Knuckles...

Shadow curled up, not even noticing that he made it to his bed until he did so. He knew he was getting too attached to the other, and that was his fault. All that seemed to consume his mind is Knuckles, and it wasn't too hard to see why. Having someone so protective and kind around him and caring for him caused him to get attached. That wouldn't be good for when he'd eventually die and leave Shadow alone. That's why Mephiles was created. So Shadow wouldn't be alone.

But Mephiles doesn't make him feel the way Knuckles does.

He hated to admit it, but he felt more secure around Knuckles than Mephiles.

He sighed as he buried his head in his pillow, trying to dismiss his thoughts.

Maybe a day away from the other would do him good...

 **~~~~~~~~~[Lava speaking]~~~~~~~~~**

 **Ah, yes, I remember the days when this wasn't suppose to be a deep story...**

 **Anyways, YAY I UPDATED!**

 **Hope you all liked it!!**


	10. Things are Happening

When Shadow awoke, he found himself locked in his room with a plate of food and a note from Mephiles. He picked up the note and read it, confused.

 _Shadow, you are going to be in here until these 'feelings' are gone. -Mephiles_

Shadow groaned, falling back on his bed. Knuckles was going to be worried...

 _'That's the kind of thinking that got you stuck in the room to begin with.'_ he thought with a huff.

He had to stop thinking about Knuckles. He had to stop blushing every time his name came up in his mind. He had to stop thinking about how nice and considerate he is, and how those wonderful amethyst eyes sparkled when he was happy-

 _'Stop!'_ He shouted in his mind, covering his ears as if that would rid of his thoughts. _'These feelings are wrong, even Mephiles says so! He's the enemy, he's the enemy...'_

For some reason, he couldn't actually bring himself to think that. It was too hard of a task.

 _'Great, so I'm gonna be stuck here forever.'_

 _ **_Knuxadow_**_

 _"Knuckles."_

 _"H-Huh?" a young echidna looked up to the other._

 _"You have to stay focused so the Master Emerald doesn't get stolen."_

 _"I-I'm sorry... The butterfly was just so pretty."_

 _The other echidna giggled softly before picking up the young one. "Are you excited for today?"_

 _"Yes!" The puggle smiled excitedly as he was led to a giant temple with a glowing green light shining at the top. Other echidnas greeted him, congratulating him on what he was about to become._

 _The guardian of the emerald._

 _It was a special task for only the best. He worked hard to earn that spot, even if he could be distracted a bit easily. That was the day that he would become the guardian._

 _If only he knew that an air fleet full of humans and one mouthless hedgehog was heading straight for his floating island._

 _The echidna looked at his tribe, them all cheering for him. He felt flustered from the attention as he looked around, spotting the friendly badger lady in the back cheering happily. His cheeks flushed as he waved to them all, gripping slightly onto the dress of his mentor._

 _He turned to face the large emerald, his smile wide._

 _That's when they dropped down._

 _"Hand over the emerald." The one hedgehog growled out, his reptilian eyes fixated on the echidna's mentor._

 _"Never." She crossed her arms, standing tall. The echidna watched as the tribe stood tall also, and he quickly did the same, his small form not making much of a difference. The echidna's terrified eyes locked with the demanding other's. Instantly, he vanished and the echidna felt a hard kick connect with his back, causing him to tumble down the stairs._

 _"Knuckles!" He heard his mentor shout in fear as he coughed up some blood, eyes widening._

 _The breath was taken out of him as a gloved hand wrapped around his throat. The hedgehog only looked at his mentor. "Give me the emerald or I take his life."_

 _His shaky purple eyes met with the crystal blue one's of his mentor. She stared at him, fear evident in all of her features. Finally, she let out a shaky breath. "Alright. Just please put him down."_

 _Instead of just simply putting the poor echidna down, the mysterious hedgehog threw him against a tree. He whimpered as his body collided with the rough bark and watched, with blurry vision, the hedgehog make his way up the stairs. Then, his mentor did something unmentionable._

 _She broke the emerald._

 _That's when the fight started, the echidnas making sure to spread out the shattered pieces, even going so far as to throw them off the side of the island._

 _He watched as his mentor was shot in the head before he blacked out._

 _ **_Knuxadow_**_

His breathing was quick and shaky as his eyes flew open.

What was that...?

Knuckles wasn't for sure, but he was terrified.

It felt almost uncomfortable, seeing all of those other echidnas on the island. It felt even more uncomfortable to see Sticks so relaxed. But the thing that really got him was the hedgehog...

It was that Mephiles guy that Shadow was with.

And that made him suddenly worried for his boyfriend. If that dream was real...

He couldn't let anything happen to Shadow.

He needed to know if that dream really happened and if Shadow was in danger. At first, he didn't know how to get his proof, but then he realized that there was a witness to that day.

And she was currently making pancakes.

 ** __Knuxadow__**

"Sticks, I have to know something."

"Really? You?" Sticks shook her head for a second. "I mean, what do you have to know?"

"What exactly happened on the day my kind was... killed off...?"

Sticks was quiet for a second as she stared at her freshly made pancakes, topped with jungle berries that she knew Knuckles loved. The others called them grapes, but she liked jungle berries better. "I told ya, the aliens came and-"

"Sticks... I want specifics... Why did the aliens attack? Who was their leader?"

Sticks went silent before replying. "I don't know why they attacked, but I think it was because of the emerald. I was once told that it held so much power, it could destroy the world if used by the wrong person. That's why they protected it. My only guess was that they wanted power."

"And their leader?"

"They must've tried to clone him or something because he looked like a hedgehog. He looked kind of like Shadow, actually... Except he had no mouth."

Knuckles froze, his heart stopping. So his dream was right? Then that Mephiles dude was bad news and Shadow could be in danger.

He had to find Shadow.

 ** __Knuxadow__**

He tried to stay calm throughout the day, but he just couldn't. He tried to look for Shadow, but he didn't show up anywhere. Finally, he made his way to Sonic's shack, sighing.

"Hey, Knux." Sonic said as he finished his chili dog. "What's up?"

"I can't find Shadow anywhere..." Knuckles sighed tiredly.

"Maybe he's busy. That Mephiles guy seemed in a rush yesterday." Sonic shrugged.

"Do you think he's okay?"

"Yeah, I mean he knows how to take care of himself."

"Mephiles doesn't seem like someone we should just trust with Shadow's life." Knuckles said.

"Shadow seems to trust him."

"He seems more scared of him than anything..."

"What is this about?" Sonic sat up from his beach chair, tilting his head slightly in interest.

Knuckles looked away before mumbling. "He killed my kind..."

"Wait, what!?" Sonic's eyes widened.

Knuckles went silent, wondering if he should've kept quiet about that. He sighed, deciding what was done was done. "That Mephiles dude led the people that killed off my kind."

"How do you know?"

"I saw it in a dream..."

"You can't always trust dreams, ya know?"

"But Sticks clarified it for me! He is the one that that led the aliens and killed off my kind!"

"I'm pretty sure we clarified that they were humans, Knux..." Sonic sighed. "But if you are really sure about this, then I'll help."

"I'm really sure, Sonic." Knuckles nodded. "I just want Shadow to be safe."

Sonic simply nodded before standing up, stretching tiredly. "I know where Shadow lives, so we can just go there."

"How do you know where he lives, but I don't?" Knuckles pouted a bit.

"I accidentally found it while running." Sonic simply shrugged before running along the beach, Knuckles close behind, though he couldn't keep up with the hedgehog that well.

When they made it to the other side of the beach, Knuckles saw a medium sized shack, with an actual door mind you. Sonic stopped right in front of it and tapped his foot impatiently while Knuckles caught up. When he did, he stared at the door in wonder, scared that he was to late.

He knocked.

No answer.

A second time.

Still none.

Third times the charm.

But still not even a sound from the other side.

"Why isn't he answering?"

"What are you doing here, echidna." spat a dark voice. Knuckles and Sonic turned around to see none other than Mephiles, glaring daggers into the poor echidna.

"I just wanted to see my boyfriend." Knuckles huffed, crossing his arms, but still looking a bit scared of the other's presence.

"Well go away." he growled.

"Calm down, dude. He has a right to see his boyfriend." Sonic said, crossing his arms boredly. He was still on edge, though. Just in case the other tried something.

Mephiles only glared at the other hedgehog. "This is my property. Anyways, Shadow doesn't wish to see that red idiot any time soon."

"Hey!" Knuckles yelled, slightly offended, even though people already call him that a lot.

Mephiles simply pushed them out of the way and opened the door to his house. "Consider you and Shadow as broken up now. He does not wish to be around you."

Knuckles gawked at the sentence, not believing what he was hearing. "Wh-What?"

The question was answered with Mephiles promptly slamming the door in his face.

"That can't be right." Sonic said, quills bristling in anger. "Shadow's not that much of a coward to send someone else like that. He has to be lying."

But Knuckles wasn't hearing any of Sonic's rant.

He was just staring at the door with tears in his eyes.

 **[Lava]**

 **Oh boy, so much happening! I love it!**

 **Not too long before this story ends, by the way!**

 **There's maybe 6 or 7 more chapters to go, depending on how I write them and what I feel like adding into my plans.**

 **Either way, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!**


	11. Broken Hearts and Unfaithful Friends

It was only an hour later Knuckles found himself crying into Amy's couch, the hedgehog looking as if she was gonna break a certain ultimate lifeform in half.

"How dare he break up with you in such a rude and unjustified manner!?" All lady like manners went out the window as Amy paced around her living room. "I say we find him and get revenge."

"I-I don't want to h-hurt him..." Knuckles sniffled, having trouble with even talking by how much he'd been crying.

"But he hurt you, Knuckles! You can't just let him go for that!"

"I still don't think Shadow wanted that." Sonic said, but was ignored, yet he still tried. "If he was actually gonna break up with you, he'd do it himself. It doesn't make sense."

"That's it! I'm sacrificing him to the aliens!" Sticks said angrily.

Knuckles just sobbed more into one of Amy's throw pillows. Sonic looked at the chaos surrounding him before simply standing up and walking to the door. Amy stopped him.

"You should console your best friend, Sonic! He needs you."

Sonic sighed, knowing he probably wasn't gonna get out of it. He sat down beside Knuckles, extremely uncomfortable. Knuckles hugged him tightly, still sobbing. The poor hedgehog stiffened, not knowing how to comfort others; it was one of the many curses of being him. Knuckles didn't seem to notice the other's discomfort, still sobbing into the soft blue fur.

"Uh, hey, Knux. It'll be alright." Sonic said, wincing at how bad he knew he was at this.

Still, the poor echidna didn't care, just needing someone to hug.

 ** _Knuxadow__**

The only word that could describe how Shadow felt was bored.

His room was bare, except for a few things: a bed, a dresser, and a nightstand. So, there was basically nothing to do, and Shadow definitely wasn't sleeping for an entire day.

He groaned into his pillow, trying to think of nothing and only nothing. It wasn't working. Knuckles always came back to haunt him.

 _'I wonder what he's doing right now?'_

 _'Is he worrying about me?'_

 _'I wonder if he wants me around...'_

He needed to stop thinking about him! It wasn't any good to think about the enemy!

A knock at the door thankfully interrupted his thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Shadow, I brought food." Mephiles opened the door an walked in, closing the door behind him.

"Why are you doing this...?" Shadow frowned as the plate was sat on his bed in front of him.

"You know that this can't happen." Mephiles crossed his arms. "That echidna is not someone you should be around."

"I know..." Shadow looked down. "But is keeping me locked up really the best way to do this?"

"No, the best way to do this is to send you to G.U.N." Mephiles spat (even though he does not have a mouth).

Shadow felt his ears instinctively flatten against his skull as he stared at Mephiles, eyes wide. "Y-You aren't going to though... right?"

"That only depends on if you can play your part." Mephiles said. "You are a weapon, and weapons don't have feelings."

"But Maria said-"

"I don't care what Maria said. You were created to be an emotionless weapon for the government's use. Obviously, Gerald had failed when he created you."

With that, Mephiles slammed the door shut, locking it. Shadow just stared, wide eyed, at the door, Mephiles's words echoing through his head.

 ** __Knuxadow__**

"Alright, there's gotta be a reason for this..." Sonic said to himself as he quietly stared at Shadow's house. He just didn't believe that Shadow would have broken up with Knuckles, especially after he had started to warm up to Knuckles.

As he watched Mephiles walk out of the house, his eyes narrowed. Mephiles just looked like the type of guy to murder an entire race. Sonic watched as the mouthless hedgehog glanced around with his reptilian eyes and faded into the darkness somehow. Sonic's eyes widened and he glanced around.

 _'How did he...?'_ He shook his head and ran towards the house, stealthily jumping through an open window.

The living room was nothing to gasp about: there were a few lamps, a couch, and a small table, though Sonic noted that there was no TV.

' _That_ must be why he's never heard of comedy chimp before their first date...'

He continued forward, sneaking through the small shack. A thump and a groan caused the hedgehog to look towards a door, it being the only room that was lit. He tiptoed towards it and put his ear to the wood.

"Stupid Mephiles, locking me in here..." a deep voice mumbled, but Sonic recognized it as Shadow's.

"Shadow?"

"Sonic!?" Another thump and a curse was heard before the other spoke up. "What are you doing here?"

Sonic tried to open the door, but he discovered that it was locked. "I sneaked in here to confront you about how you broke up with Knuckles."

"What do you mean? I never broke up with Knuckles. Why would I ever break up with him?"

"I knew it!" Sonic whisper shouted. "Mephiles told us that you did, but I didn't believe him!"

"Mephiles..." Sonic noted slight fear in the other's voice, but he shrugged it off.

"Shadow, come on out so we can go to Knuckles. He's been crying all day!"

"I can't. Mephiles locked me in here." Shadow said. "He's been crying all day? He's okay though, right? D-Did Mephiles hurt him?"

"No, he's fine." Sonic said, actually glad to hear concern in the other's voice.

"Maybe for now." Sonic's eyes widened as he looked behind him to find reptilian eyes glaring into his own emerald green.

"Mephiles..." the hedgehog behind the door banged against it. "Wh-What are you doing!?"

"Calling the government after I rid of this fool." Mephiles hissed, glaring at the blue intruder.

Sonic could've sworn he heard a whimper from the other side of the door, but didn't believe his ears. His ears went back with a small growl. "You locked him in here and told Knuckles that he broke up with him! What kind of friend are you!?"

Mephiles's eyes narrowed. "Just because I was created to be his friend doesn't mean I will."

"Mephiles..." Shadow banged against the door lightly. "You lied to me!"

"Lied to you? Hah! I was the only one who stayed by you. You are the one who betrayed me when you started to actually develop feelings for the idiotic echidna!" Mephiles quickly grabbed Sonic, dragging him away from the door.

"Hey! Let go of me!" Sonic yelled as he was dragged.

"Mephiles!" Shadow shouted, banging on the door as Sonic was dragged away into the darkness.


	12. Help

Knuckles woke up to the smell of coffee and toast. He sighed as he realized he was at Amy's house, having refused to move from that spot the night before.

"Good morning, Knuckles." Amy smiled as she walked in with a plate and a mug, setting them both down on the table in front of her couch. "Are you feeling any better?"

"I don't know..." Knuckles sighed, looking down to his lap as he tried to suppress the tears. He sniffled as he looked around the room. "Where's Sticks?"

"She went out to find Shadow." Amy said simply. "You should eat."

Knuckles' eyes widened as he stood up. "She's not going to hurt him, is she!?"

"Knuckles, calm down." Amy said, laying a calming hand on his arm. "You shouldn't care about what happens to him; he hurt you!"

"But I do, and I-I just cant have him hurt, Amy..." Knuckles pouted.

Amy sighed. "Knuckles please just sit down and eat."

"No! I can't! I-If Shadow's hurt, I-I-"

"Knuckles." Amy took more of a demanding tone. "You do not need to protect him when he broke your heart like that."

And with that, the echidna sat down and ate.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Mph!" Sonic tried to shout out, but couldn't. Both his legs and his arms were tied up, and his mouth was duck taped shut. The room he was in was dark, save for one giant, glowing emerald, the color matching his eyes. He struggled in his binds as he looked around, hoping for a way out. He found none.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Have any of you seen Sonic?" Knuckles and Amy turned to Tails, who had just walked in.

"No, why?" Amy asked.

"He's gone missing." Tails said. "I haven't see him since he left here yesterday."

"Well, he hasn't come back here." Amy said, concerned. "Do you think he's alright!?"

"I don't know." Tails replied. "He can normally handle himself, but normally he communicates with me before he does anything."

"What could he be up to?" Amy looked out her window, eyes wide with worry.

"We should go look for him!" Knuckles declared standing up.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Shadow banged on his door multiple times, shouting for anyone to help him. Nobody came, of course. He and Mephiles made sure their house was secluded away from anyone else when they had moved to the island. He frowned as he gave up, going through the obvious clue he had that Mephiles would do something like this.

He even remembered the day that Mephiles pushed him to move to the island...

 _It was a normal day for the red striped hedgehog. He basically hid from everyone because the government was still on the lookout for him. He and Mephiles lived in the forest, and they had very little. At that exact moment he had been talking to his friend, Sonic, through a tablet like communicator Tails made everyone. Sonic, Tails, and Amy had followed Eggman to a far off island and they all settled down there, so Shadow couldn't really see them often_

 _"I never thought I'd say this, but I really like staying here." Sonic smiled_.

 _"I can tell." Shadow nodded, referencing to the blue hedgehog letting his quills grow out a bit more._

 _"Heh, yeah." Sonic chuckled. "Oh! You haven't met Sticks or Knuckles yet! Guys, come here!"_

 _"I'm not getting anywhere near yer deathtrap!" A voice of a girl's came from the room Sonic was in._

 _"It's not gonna kill you, Sticks." Sonic said, slightly annoyed._

 _Soon enough, two figures entered the camera's sight. One was a female badger with crazy, blue eyes, and the other was a... red something with sparkling amethyst eyes. Sonic smiled to Shadow. "This is Sticks the Badger and Knuckles the Echidna. They're natives to here. Guys, this is Shadow."_

 _"Hello." Shadow waved calmly to the screen, curious as to what an echidna was. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see his friend, Mephiles appearing from the shadows._

 _The one named Knuckles waved back, with a smile. "Hi, Shadow!"_

 _"I don't trust him." The badger named Stick glared suspiciously at him. "He looks like some sort of government weapon."_

 _Shadow almost had a heart attack, but calmed when Sonic rolled his eyes and said, "She thinks everything looks like a government weapon. You'll get use to it."_

 _He simply nodded, trying to act calm. "Okay, yeah."_

 _"Maybe you can come over sometime, and we can hang out like old times, eh?" Sonic smiled._

 _"Yeah, sure." Shadow smiled. "I hope to see you all again, but for now, I have to go. Goodbye."_

 _"Bye!" Sonic and Knuckles replied with sync and Sonic hung up._

 _Shadow smiled as he put the communicator down and looked to Mephiles. "Sonic has found some new friends."_

 _"Oh really..." Mephiles replied boredly._ _"Yeah, a badger named Sticks and an echidna named Knuckles."_

 _"Did you say echidna?"_

 _"Yeah, do you know what that is?" Shadow tilted his head curiously._

 _"We have to go to that island. Now."_

 _"What? Why?"_

 _"Echidnas are dangerous beings. If your so called friends are working with him, then they are the enemies."_

 _"Knuckles didn't seem that bad though..." Shadow glanced to the communicator._

Shadow sighed as he looked around his room. He should've trusted his instincts at that moment. Then maybe none of them would be in that predicament.

 _'I should've known that Mephiles was lying to me...'_ He sighed.

Then, he realized that he still had that communicator. Quickly, he made his way to a small chest in his small closet that really had no other use. He found the communicator and quickly tried to turn it on, calling Tails. No answer.

He tried again, but with Amy.

It took a little while, but there was an answer. "Hello?"

"Amy!" Shadow smiled, relieved.

"Shadow?" The female's voice came through, sounding a bit angry. "How dare you call the old communicator after breaking up with Knuckles!"

"I didn't break up with Knuckles." Shadow quickly said. "Mephiles tricked you. He... He tricked me too..."

"Wait, what!?" He heard Knuckles' voice in the background.

"Knuckles! You're alright!" Shadow sighed in relief. "That means there's still time."

"Time?" Tails questioned. "What do you mean?"

"Sonic came here to see why too, and Mephiles took him! I'm locked in my room, and I don't know what Mephiles is going to do!"

"We're on our way!" Amy said quickly and hung up.

Shadow put the communicator down and looked to the door. "Please hurry..."


	13. Plans into Motion

Knuckles found himself bolting out the door the second Shadow had stated his predicament. Mephiles really did lie to him! Shadow still wanted to be together!

He could hear Tails and Amy behind him as he ran to where he remembered Shadow's house to be. It was almost noon before they got there.

Ignoring any stealthy ways of getting in, Knuckles broke the door, shouting, "Shadow!"

"Knuckles!" Shadow's voice shouted back, and Knuckles rushed to break through the door that his voice hid behind.

There Shadow was on the other side of the door, a wide smile on his face as Knuckles scooped him up into a hug. "You're okay..."

"Same to you." Shadow sighed happily as he hugged the echidna back.

"Where's Sonic?" Tails questioned.

"I don't know..." Shadow sighed. "Mephiles took him away."

"We have to find him!" Amy said sprinting out of the room and looking around the house. The other's proceeded to help, but they couldn't find anything.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Sonic struggled in his binds, trying to escape though they were on tight. His ears flattened against his skull as he felt the rope burn get worse. He looked to the large emerald, hope seemingly draining.

His ears twitched as a curse came from the shadows. He tried to find the source, but it was no use.

"It seems your friends have gotten Shadow out." The voice of Mephiles echoed through the room. "Perhaps they wish to meet the same fate as you?"

Sonic struggled more, trying to shout through the piles of tape slapped over his mouth. "Mph!"

"Of course they aren't a threat to me." Mephiles slowly came out of the shadows. "Except for that idiotic echidna, of course."

Sonic glared into the Shadow look alike's reptilian, green eyes.

"Oh, but I must kill him." If Mephiles had a mouth, Sonic would assume he'd be smirking. "Echidna's have rule over the emerald, especially him. I should've killed him all those years ago before the emerald was even shattered."

Sonic struggled more, hoping he could break out of the binds and stop Mephiles. The shadow look alike darkly chuckled as he faded into the shadows, leaving the blue one alone.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Where could Mephiles have taken him?" Shadow questioned as they all searched.

"Maybe it's not in the house." Tails suggested, and that's when they made the horrible mistake of going outside.

"Shadow the Hedgehog! Stand down!" A human shouted, pointing his gun directly towards the red striped hedgehog.

"It's the aliens!" Sticks shouted.

Shadow felt his heartbeat speed up as he stared at the human, the uniform bringing instant fear throughout his body.

G.U.N.

"Get back inside. Now." Shadow growled out to the others slowly. Amy and Tails found themselves slowly backing back into the house, as Shadow had told them. Sticks, however, bolted into the forest without a second thought. Knuckles just stood beside Shadow, not moving.

"Shadow, what's going on?" Knuckles asked as he laid a hand on the other's shoulder.

"Step away from the project!" Shadow froze as half of the group of humans pointed their guns toward Knuckles.

"Knuckles. Back away. Now." Shadow kept his eyes trained on all of the armed humans, ears flicking around for any sound of movement.

"Not until you tell me what's going on!" Knuckles didn't move.

"Knuckles, please. I don't want you hurt; just go back in the house and find Sonic." Shadow pushed him back slightly, making sure to not alert the humans.

"Shadow..." Knuckles looked at the hedgehog, eyes watering a bit. Shadow looked away and held his hands up, walking towards the group of humans.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"That should take care of Project Shadow for good." Sonic watched as Mephiles looked to the large emerald, crossing his arms. "Now for the echidna."

The blue hedgehog tried to get out of his binds, wondering what exactly the other kept talking about. Where was he? What is that emerald? What is going on with his friends?

Mephiles looked to the struggling hedgehog. "Why haven't you given up yet? Don't you see that this is pointless?"

Sonic glared but quickly winced at the rope burns around his wrists and ankles. Mephiles stood in front of him, lifting his head to meet his eyes.

"How does it feel to know that you've failed as a hero? That you're friends are in trouble, and you can't help them?" The dark voice seemed to echo in the blue hedgehog's ears and they flattened against his head by instinct. Mephiles let his head drop as he stepped away. "Perhaps you could be of use to me."

Sonic just stared at the floor, attempting to hide the fear he was feeling...

And the tears welling up in his eyes.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Shadow!" Knuckles shouted as he saw humans put a shock collar on his boyfriend. Shadow's ear twitched at the sound, but otherwise did nothing. Amy and Tails gripped onto his arms, making sure he didn't run and possibly get himself killed.

"Get it on the helicopter." One human said, glaring at Shadow with disdain. The others nodded and did as told.

"Stop!" Knuckles shouted. "You can't just take him!"

The commanding human turned to the three. "Project Shadow belongs to us. We can do whatever we want with it."

And with that, the human stepped into the helicopter and it took off.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Sonic's ears twitched as he heard a shout that was undoubtedly Knuckles. His eyes widened as he looked around the room, finding that Mephiles was still there.

"Just the scream of a broken heart." Mephiles said calmly. "It seems Shadow is finally back where he belongs."

Sonic looked back down, relieved that Knuckles wasn't hurt. He wondered what was going on outside of wherever he was, and why Knuckles was screaming. He then tensed up as he looked back to Mephiles. The Shadow look alike noticed and calmly replied to his questioning glance. "The project has been returned to the ones who own him. Now," he pulled out another line of rope. "Shall we go?"


	14. Jump

Shadow kept his eyes glued to his rocket shoes, not daring to look at the humans around him. He didn't personally recognize them, but he knew that they were all G.U.N. soldiers, and that he was nothing but a failed project to them. He found his mind moving from his current situation to Knuckles, wondering what he was doing and how he was feeling.

He hoped he didn't hurt him in any way. Of course, remembering the scream he had as they took off, he doubted that he didn't. It was almost surreal, what had happened. It hurt him, horribly, to hear that scream come out from Knuckles. What was even worse was that would be the last thing he'd ever hear from him.

 _'At least I could protect you...'_ He thought sadly. _'Please don't think bad of me for this... I had no other choice...'_

He sighed quietly, trying to get the thought of the echidna out of his head.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"We have to get him back!" Knuckles shouted as he ran after the helicopter, Tails and Amy on his heels.

"But how?" Tails asked. "Those are government agents, we can't just mess with them!"

"I don't care! I just want him back!" Knuckles cried out.

"And we also want Sonic back." Amy tried to reason. "Mephiles has him, and who knows what he could be doing to him!"

Knuckles stopped, breathing heavily with tears running down his muzzle. He felt almost trapped between saving his best friend or saving his boyfriend. He didn't know what those government guys wanted with Shadow, nor why Shadow went with them, but he wanted- no- needed him back. Then again, he knew Sonic was in trouble and he knew what Mephiles was capable of. He didn't want his best friend hurt, and he especially didn't want him gone for good.

He felt his body shake with uncertainty, amethyst eyes set on the fleeting helicopter.

Until something hit it.

And it went down in a flaming blast.

"SHADOW!"

 **_Knuxadow_**

The first thought he had was to jump.

Of course, he was trained for situations like this.

And as he felt the helicopter go down, fire burning his fur slightly, he jumped into the ocean. He tried his best to avoid the other falling objects, getting scraped every now and again. He felt himself wash up on the shore, coughing and sputtering. Brown shoes appeared in his vision, and he looked up to see Sticks holding out her hand and saying something, the ringing in his ears making it hard to hear her correctly.

Nonetheless, he took her hand and stood up, groaning. "Sticks?"

He stumbled a bit as Sticks started talking again, it only coming out as a slur of noises to him. She started tugging at his arm, pulling him somewhere as the ringing in his ears started to go away.

"-and we have to go!"

"What...?" Shadow rubbed his head confused.

"Didn't you hear a word I said!?" Sticks questioned, blue eyes darting around behind him, probably looking for any surviving 'aliens.' Shadow shook his head, which was aching horribly. Sticks groaned in aggravation, pulling him more. He stumbled behind her as she dragged him into the woods.

"Ugh, Sticks..." He groaned out. "I need a few more seconds to heal."

Sticks let go and crossed her arms, tapping her foot impatiently. He leaned his sore body against a tree, taking deep breaths as he felt it heal. After a bit, he moved his arm, finding that there wasn't any pain. He walked back to Sticks and nodded. "Okay."

And with that, he followed behind Sticks.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"SHADOW!" Knuckles found himself fall to his knees, despair clouding any thought.

"What a shame." A deep voice said. "I was hoping he'd suffer for the rest of eternity."

The group of three looked to where the voice was coming to see Mephiles on the other side of a huge gap, a river rushing far below. Knuckles clenched his fist in rising anger running closer to the gap, prepared to jump, but Mephiles stopped him.

"Ah, ah, ah. You wouldn't want to do that." Mephiles said simply before holding out a certain tied up blue hedgehog above the gap. "Unless you want your friend's body to live in the seas."

"Sonic!" All three shouted, causing Sonic to look up, his emerald green eyes glowing with something equivalent to fear. Everyone knew he hated water, and at this height it was sure that he wouldn't survive.

He felt his body shake, the situation hitting him at full force. If there was something he hated more than water, it was his friend's seeing him weak. But there was nothing he could do. If he tried to struggle again, he'd fall out of Mephiles' grip and into the rushing river below. The best he could do was stay cool and hope his friends could get him out.

The group of three stared at their friend, shocked and scared beyond belief. Amy was the first to speak up. "Why are you doing this!?"

"Simple." Mephiles said. "That echidna is the only reason I'm even bothering you."

"Knuckles?" Amy and Tails looked to their red friend, who had also said his name with them. He looked at the two before looking back to Mephiles.

"Why Knuckles?" Tails questioned. "What did he do?"

"Echidna's have power over me when controlling the emerald. Especially him." Mephiles glared into Knuckles' amethyst eyes. "The guardian of the emerald."

"Emerald? What emerald?" Amy asked.

"The Master Emerald..." Knuckles trailed off, memories hitting him hard. "But I thought it was shattered ages ago! Back when I was still a kid!"

"I spent all these years putting it back together, using Shadow as my puppet, only to find out that the guardian is alive." Mephiles clenched his fists, putting more pressure on Sonic's already sore arms. His ears flattened against his head in response to the pain. "Now, the price to pay for your friend's life is simple. You take the fall yourself."

The group of three froze, eyes wide at what Mephiles was saying. Sonic's eyes widened also, suppressing the urge to struggle in the Shadow look alike's grip.

Knuckles took a deep breath. "So if I do this, Sonic will be safe?"

"Of course. I have no other use for him." Mephiles said simply.

"You aren't actually considering this, are you Knuckles!?" Amy grabbed on to the echidna's arm gently.

"I have to..." Knuckles didn't even look at her as he approached the edge of their side of the gap. He looked down, shaking in fear, but as he looked back to his blue quilled best friend, he knew that he had to do this.

At least Sonic would be safe and he'd be with Shadow...

He took a deep breath as he looked back at his friends with a small smile. "Goodbye guys."

"Knuckles! Don't do it!" Amy and Tails shouted, but it was too late; Knuckles had already jumped.

Sonic's eyes widened as he watched the scene, feeling completely helpless. He didn't want Knuckles to do that for him...

He winced as he hit the ground beside his friends, Mephiles having thrown him across the gap. Tails and Amy worked quickly, undoing the ties around his wrists and ankles. He ripped off the duct tape and ran to the edge of the gap, ignoring the intense pain the movements brought him. His body shook as he fell to his knees looking down, tears running down his muzzle; he couldn't do anything...

"Knuckles..."


	15. The Final Fight Part 1

Growling under his breath, "Knuckles don't you dare jump."

Laying a hand on his shoulder, "Just stick to the plan. He won't jump."

Knuckles jumped.

Eyes narrowing dangerously, "I don't care about the plan anymore. Go save him. I'll take care of Mephiles."

Worried for the one she took care of, she nodded, rushing to help him.

And he ran to the dark being, red eyes burning with ever growing anger.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Mephiles went to walk away, but was stopped by a kick to the side of his head. The sound caused the three mourning members of Team Sonic to look up.

Shadow stood tall, eyes shinning with hatred towards his look alike. Mephiles looked at him, growling.

"Shadow!?" The three on the other side of the gap shouted in surprise. Shadow's ears twitched as he looked towards them.

"You're alive!?" Tails gasped out.

"Of course." Shadow huffed. "I'm not an idiot. I know not to stay on a burning helicopter."

"What happened!? Did you cause that explosion!?" Amy asked.

"No. I had some help." Shadow crossed his arms.

As if on cue, a loud shrieking could be heard and the group looked down to see Sticks and Knuckles swinging on a vine. The shrieking came from Knuckles. Sticks looked up and gave Shadow a thumbs up, crawling up the vine with Knuckles following her. The three sighed in relief.

Shadow smiled, seeing that Knuckles was safe and that it seemed Sonic was too. The moment was cut short, for Mephiles had tackled him.

Team Sonic noticed this and decided that they were going to help Shadow. Mephiles stopped them by summoning clones of himself to keep them on the other side. Shadow growled and kicked him off, quickly getting up.

The more Knuckles tried to get to Shadow, the more Mephiles' clones blocked his way. He tried his best, as did everyone else, but it was basically no use. They decided to deal with the clones until there was a clear opening.

Sonic was in no condition to fight, and he knew that. But there was no way that he'd sit in the sidelines and watch. He blocked out his pain as he tried to fight like he usually did. The other's noticed his pain, though, and they weren't going to have him any more hurt than he already was.

"Sonic!" Amy shouted as she hit two clones in a row with her hammer, them disappearing by a puff of smoke. "Go sit down! You're hurt enough!"

"No way!" Sonic shouted, spin dashing into another one while wincing at the pain it caused. He really did struggle too much with the tight ropes, and it might've been a bad idea to kick his captor with his bound legs when they were leaving the place with the emerald.

"Sonic! Sit down!" Amy glared towards him, anger and worry present in her eyes. And that one look made him give up and sit on the sidelines, massaging the aches on his legs. He hasn't moved them in what felt like forever, them being bound and all. Content with their friend on the sidelines, the rest of Team Sonic continued to go through the Mephiles clones.

Sonic stared at his friend's seeing them struggle to keep up with the ever growing clones. There had to be a way to stop him. But what? There had to be something he was missing, something important.

Then it hit him.

The large emerald.

It had to have enough power to stop Mephiles! And Knuckles could probably use it easily!

With that thought in mind, Sonic snuck off, in pain still, to the room where the emerald was held captive. Knuckles saw Sonic leaving, and followed him.

Meanwhile, Shadow found himself up routing trees just to hurt Mephiles in someway. The dark being just seemed to dodge every one, using the shadows to come and go as he pleased. Finally, he found his opening, grabbing Mephiles by the wrist and dangling him over the gap.

Mephiles didn't react. "You know you can't kill me, Shadow."

Shadow's ears went back, seething, "You lied to me! You used me! I don't care if I can't kill you. I can do worse."

Mephiles still didn't react. Instead, his other hand shifted into a pointed end and plunged itself right in Shadow's right eye. Shadow let out a blood curdling scream, alerting the others to what was going on. Shadow threw Mephiles off him and held his eye, screaming in pain. It was the worse physical pain he's ever felt.

Mephiles stood up from where he was thrown and walked towards the hurting hedgehog. "You can die, though. If you're hurt badly enough."

Shadow thought that it would heal quickly, like all of his injuries did, but it didn't. The pain didn't go away; it didn't even lessen. He felt Mephiles grab him by the throat, opening his working eye to look into the reptilian green's of the other.

"Pathetic." Mephiles sneered. "You aren't even good at being a weapon. You really are just a mistake."

The clones disappeared, Sticks, Amy, and Tails looking confused before turning their attention to the two on the other side of the gap. Their eyes widened at the scene.

"M-Mephiles!" Shadow growled out, gripping the other's arm that was holding him up. The pain in his eye was beginning to be too much for him. His vision faded in and out, and for the first time in his life, he felt as if he'd pass out. He hoped he wouldn't.

 **[Lava**

 **T** **his chapter had to be split into 2 parts because it's apparently too long for this site...**


	16. The Final Fight Part 2

Meanwhile, Sonic quickly ran to Shadow and Mephiles' house, Knuckles close behind.

"Sonic? What are you doing!? We have to help Shadow and the others!"

Sonic jumped and looked to Knuckles. "Knuckles! I am helping, trust me!"

"How?" Knuckles tilted his head curiously. Sonic simply turned around and pressed two hidden buttons on the side of the house. A door opened, where a staircase leading downwards was. A faint, green glow illuminated the stairs and Knuckles felt a familiar energy go through him.

"This is where Mephiles took me when he found me trying to help Shadow." Sonic explained while leading Knuckles down. The closer they got to the source of the green light, the more energy Knuckles felt. It was so familiar, though he couldn't figure out what it was. At least, until he saw the cause of it.

"That's..." He trailed off breathlessly, sudden flashes of memory coming to him, the energy basically coursing through his entire body. "That's the Master Emerald..."

"Mephiles said that if you got a hold of it, you'd have full control. You'd be able to stop him." Sonic said, also feeling the rush of energy, though it wasn't too familiar to him.

 _"Knuckles..."_ The two jumped at the sudden voice.

"Wh-What was that?" Sonic looked around, not finding the source of the voice.

"I know that voice from somewhere..." Knuckles said, looking straight at the emerald.

Suddenly, a light orange, echidna girl appeared, her form ghost like. She smiled calmly to the two who both jumped back, eyes wide.

"You see her too, right Knux?" Sonic asked, hoping he wasn't going crazy. Knuckles nodded, trying to remember why she felt so familiar.

Then it hit him.

"Tikal...?"

She smiled and nodded, walking closer to him. _"You've grown so much, young puggle. The emerald has finally been restored, and you can be it's guardian."_

Knuckles didn't know what to say. It was strange, seeing another echidna after so long. "H-How are you here? I-I saw you-"

 _"Shhh..."_ Tikal soothed motherly. _"I am a part of the emerald as is all of our ancestors before who have guarded it. Now, go, quickly. You must save your loved one."_

"Shadow..." Knuckles' eyes widened as he realized he left Shadow and the others to fight. "I-Is he alright!?"

 _"He'll be fine if you go now. Take the emerald and use it to stop Mephiles. I know you can do it."_

Knuckles nodded, determined to get back to Shadow. Tikal disappeared, and Knuckles picked up the emerald before running out, shouting to Sonic, "Come on!"

Sonic had to stand there for a second, blinking confusedly, before he raced to catch up with the red echidna.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Shadow struggled in Mephiles' grip, blood pouring down his cheek from his still injured eye. Mephiles chuckled darkly, reptilian green eyes shining with malevolent delight. He felt himself dangle over the gap, the only thing keeping him from falling being Mephiles' hand around his throat. He looked, with his uninjured eye, towards the tense team, noticing that Knuckles and Sonic were nowhere to be found.

He sighed, not finding any way out of this mess. Mephiles' grip started to loosen, the delight growing.

"Sayonara, Shadow the Hedgehog."

Tears spilled down his cheek, mixing with the blood; Mephiles knew how to get to his head. Those were the last words Maria had said to him before she... died...

He closed his good eye and waited for gravity to do the rest of the work. He slipped out of Mephiles' hand easily, the feeling of air hitting his body hard as he fell made him almost forget what was going on.

Two words stopped everything, though.

"Chaos Control!"

 **_Knuxadow_**

The words came out of Knuckles almost as if he said them a thousand times. Time slowed almost to a stop and he was able to take in the scene before him.

Shadow was falling, blood and tears staining his muzzle, one eyes closed shut painfully, and the other closed shut peacefully. Mephiles stood at the edge, eyes shining ruthlessly. Tails, Amy, and Sticks looked on with horror, all the Mephiles clones gone.

He slowly walked towards the love of his life, standing at the edge of the gap. The Chaos Control could last as long as he wanted it to; he was the guardian.

Setting down the emerald, Tikal appeared beside him.

"A-Am I too late? His eye..." Knuckles felt tears arising. "He's hurt!"

 _"He's fine."_ Tikal said gently. _"You aren't to late."_

Knuckles simply nodded, taking a running start before jumping, grabbing Shadow, and imbedding his namesakes into the taller gap (the one Mephiles was on). He climbed up and set Shadow gently on the grass, kissing his forehead gently. Tikal appeared beside him, holding the emerald.

 _"It's time to defeat Mephiles once and for all."_

"Right." Knuckles nodded, standing up. "How do I do that?"

 _"Use the Master Emerald to seal him in this."_ Tikal handed him a dark scepter. _"He won't be able to break out."_

Knuckles held the delicate object in his hands, hoping his clumsy ways won't kick in. He took a deep breath, looking to Tikal. She smiled encouragingly as she disappeared.

And the Chaos Control ended.

 **_Knuxadow_**

Shadow had known those words, trained with those words. He knew what those words were, but he didn't know who used them.

That is, until it ended and he found himself on safe ground, Knuckles standing proudly in front of him. A large emerald was set beside him as he faced towards Mephiles, who also knew what had happened.

"How did you get that!?" Mephiles growled, but he wasn't talking about the emerald.

He was talking about the scepter in the echidna's hand.

Knuckles said nothing. He just closed his eyes and let the chaos energy wash over him, the scepter hovering slightly above his outstretched hands.

"The servers are the 7 Chaos. Chaos is power... Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos." Knuckles' voice seemed to echo, and to him it sounded like Tikal was joining him.

Around him, seven emeralds appeared seemingly out of nowhere, aiding in his power. Mephiles looked on, trapped by the energy, his form slowly melting into a dark substance. "NO!"

When Knuckles opened his eyes, Mephiles was gone, along with the seven emeralds. The scepter then disappeared, Tikal assuring him in his mind that it was somewhere safe.

He smiled happily. "I did it!" He looked to his confused friends, them all smiling with relief. He then turned to Shadow, who was passed out. Worried, he ran to him.

' _Do not worry, Knuckles. He was just a bit overwhelmed by the amount of Chaos energy.'_ Tikal reassured.

He sighed in relief and picked him up, holding him close.

Everything was okay...

Everything was okay...

 **[Lava]**

 **I** **had to split this chapter in two because it was too long for this site.**

 **Anyways, the next chapter is the last :p**

 **See y'all for the finale!!!!**


	17. The Story Ends

Shadow opened his eyes, ears twitching to the quiet conversation going on around him. He calmly sat up, feeling no pain. His healing ability must've finally done it's job.

And that's when he realized he couldn't see out of his right eye.

"What the...?" He turned his head to see Tails and Knuckles staring at him in shock.

"Shadow!" Knuckles hugged him tightly, not wanting to let go.

"Come on, Knuckles. We have to give him some space." Tails advised. Knuckles reluctantly nodded and backed away from the confused hedgehog.

"What's going on?" Shadow questioned, holding his head slightly. "We were fighting Mephiles and then..."

"Knuckles took care of him." Tails said.

"Yeah, he's not gonna bother you anymore." Knuckles smiled happily.

Shadow simply nodded before standing up and holding a hand close to his right eye. "How long was I out, and... why can't I see?"

"Uh, well, you've been out for about a weak, and..." Tails scratched the back of his head. "I'm not so sure why. You were hurt pretty badly there, but it healed well with your abilities plus the added effects of the Master Emerald. I guess you're, uh, p-permanently blind in that eye..."

Shadow stared at Tails in shock, letting the information sink in a bit. "Permanently blind...? But I'm supposed to heal any wounds. I was created so that wouldn't happen..."

"My guess it that it had something to do with Mephiles." Tails said. "He seemed to have somewhat of a hold on your chaos abilities, which is why you didn't immediately heal. It might be why this happened."

Even with that explanation, Shadow still couldn't believe it. He could no longer see out of his right eye, which would make so many things tough, fighting especially.

Knuckles noticed his boyfriend's feelings on the subject and simply laid a hand on his left shoulder comfortingly. "But, hey, it's okay! We can help you through this."

Shadow looked up to Knuckles and couldn't help but smile. There really was no more denying it now; he loved that kind, red echidna. And he was prepared to show it.

He hugged the other tightly. "Thank you so much... for everything..."

Knuckles smiled and returned the hug, gently petting the shorter one. "I'd do anything for you, Shadow."

"I love you."

Knuckles smile only brightened as he bent down and secured the other's lips in a kiss. It was their first one since Knuckles confessed, and it felt just as special to the echidna as it did then.

Shadow's muzzle flared red, quills puffing out in surprise. Nonetheless, he kissed back because he wanted to. It felt so wonderfully right to him, and he didn't know why he avoided kissing the other before. They pulled away, both blushing furiously. Tails coughed a bit awkwardly, alerting the two to his presence and causing them to blush even more.

"C-Can we get out of this room?" Shadow stuttered out embarrassingly. The other two nodded and they walked out.

Shadow followed the two out to the beach, having difficulty with his depth perception, often running into things on accident. Knuckles held his hand in hopes to steer him around objects, which was helpful, but he still found himself tripping over things. After a bit of that, Knuckles decided to just carry him, much to the shorter's annoyance.

"I have to learn to walk myself!"

"Maybe another time. For now, I'll be your legs!" Knuckles chuckled to the pouting hedgehog.

They arrived at the front of Sonic's house, Amy and Sticks playing volleyball, and Sonic laying back in a chair. His wrists and ankles were more bandaged than usual, and Shadow assumed that he was still healing. The three noticed them and waved, Sticks and Amy ending their game to walk to them.

"I'm so glad you're okay!" Amy smiled sincerely to Shadow, and Shadow returned it.

"How's your eye?" Sonic asked.

"It's going to be difficult learning to live with half my vision gone, but I'm sure I'll figure it out." He replied while Knuckles put him down. "How're your wrists and ankles?"

"Eh, it hurts to do basically everything I love, but it all should be healed soon." Sonic shrugged.

"They would've been healed already if you stopped running." Amy scolded, her hands on her hips. Sonic only replied with a weak chuckle and a shrug.

"The good thing is that everyone's safe and alive and nobody died in any fiery explosions." Knuckles smiled, wrapping an arm around Shadow.

"Except for those aliens that took Shadow." Sticks said, looking to the ocean.

They all went silent for a moment.

"Sticks, those were- nevermind." Sonic sighed.

"So what exactly happened after I passed out?" Shadow asked, ignoring the last two lines of dialogue.

"Knuckles sealed Mephiles into some kind of ancient scepter. It sorta disappeared after that, but Knuckles said that it's safe." Tails said.

"Tikal took care of it. I don't know where it is, but he's not gonna bother us again." Knuckles added.

"And the emerald?" Shadow asked, looking to his boyfriend.

"It's back at the alter you, Sonic, and Tails found." He replied. "It started to make the island float, but after some confused shouting by everyone, we all just accepted it."

"Just be careful." Amy advised. "If you go too far into the water, you could fall off the island."

"Good to know." Shadow nodded.

"Besides that, you didn't miss anything too big." Sonic said. "Eggman's island isn't here though, so I have no idea what's going on with him."

 **_Knuxadow_**

The doctor in question was coming up with new plans, but none seemed to meet his evil standards.

"If I'm going to be in this story, then I need the best robot I could ever make!"

"It seems that you're too late. This is the last chapter." Orbot informed.

"What!?" Eggman looked shocked before stomping his foot on the ground. "That's no fair! I'm petitioning for a sequel with me in it!"

"I don't think that's gonna happen." Cubot said. "The author has other things to do, such as her more popular books."

"Yes, I'm sure people want to read the one with the elements more." Orbot nodded.

"Or the one with the voices inside Sonic's head!" Cubot said.

Eggman grumbled disappointedly to his couch.

 **_Knuxadow_**

"Eh, I'm sure it's a whole lot of nothing." Sonic shrugged.

"Did anyone else hear a crack?" Sticks questioned. The other's just shrugged.

"So, Shadow," Knuckles smiled to him, "Now that you're not evil, I bet you'd wanna join Team Knuckles!"

Sonic opened his mouth to say something about the team name, but just ended up shaking his head and sighing.

Shadow smiled and took Knuckles' hand in his. "Yes, I think I would."

And the rest of the day was spent with the team together and Eggman disappointingly looking for something to binge watch on TV.

 **[Lava]**

 **Aaaaaaaand it's finished!**

 **Thank you all so much for reading and commenting! This was a really fun story to write, and I'm glad that it's finished!**

 **I'll see you all in my other stories!**

 **Love you all!!!!**


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